Fancy a beer? Us too. With temperatures rising and summer just around the corner, staying in the house is proving to be thirsty work.
The pubs may be closed and it may be hard to get to the shops, but lockdown doesn’t mean you have to go without a cold beverage – a number of local breweries are now delivering straight to your door.
Whether you’re into fruit-flavoured beers or more traditional tipples, there’s plenty of choice available and good deals to be had as breweries adapt to a new way of working.
One such business is Brew Toon, a Peterhead-based craft brewery for which online orders are proving to be a “lifeline”.
Owner Fred Bowden said: “At the start of the year we’d built up a great momentum, laying down stocks for the busy summer period ahead, but the lockdown has obviously changed the situation dramatically overnight. Our bar in Peterhead had to close on March 20.
“Previously the online business had not played a large part in our sales. Now it’s become a major part. Online sales have really been a lifeline for a lot of businesses and communities have really come together to support local businesses like us.
“Our best online sellers have been the award-winning Mango Unchained and Weekend Hooker, which was the first beer we ever brewed.
“The situation with the lockdown is obviously not ideal, not knowing how long it may last, but we will continue to bring out new beers and work hard to ensure a great service to all our customers.”
Another beer producer that has had to adapt its working model is 71 Brewing, a Dundee-based craft brewery which supplied a number of bars in the city, but has now switched to online sales as their main income source.
Owner Duncan Alexander said: “The pubs closing was a big change for us, because that’s where our wholesale orders came from, for draft and packaged products.
“We lost up to 50% of our business overnight, but we were expecting this, so we gave our website and our app a spruce-up. Previously they had been a bit neglected as we didn’t really get much business through them.
“After lockdown was announced we had an influx of online orders and we’ve had to reconfigure the way we do business – we now sell directly to customers rather than through third party pubs. Our 71 lager, Cloud Fall pale ale and Mansarina Sky hazy IPA have been very popular. We’ll try to keep the online side of things going after lockdown too, as people may still be uncomfortable going to pubs for a while”.
To make your choice easier, we’ve rounded up ten independent breweries offering online delivery local to you.Six Degrees North, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Tayside
Deliveries in Aberdeen are being carried out every day, north of the city on a Thursday, in Tayside on a Saturday and Stonehaven on a Friday. The brewery’s mixed cases containing a variety of Belgian-style beers are proving popular and owner Robert Lindsay is personally delivering some of the stock to customers.
Fierce Beer, Aberdeen
Offering a variety of “hoppy”, fruity and dark craft beers, this craft brewery will deliver to mainland UK for £4.95. If you fancy something a bit more “out there”, they offer a number of ales with a chilli kick as well as flavoured gins.
71 Brewing, Tayside
Established in 2016, 71 Brewing is now servicing the Tayside area through its app, 71 Tap and Bottle. Nationwide deliveries can be arranged through its website. If you want to bring the pub experience to your home, there’s the option to order a five-litre mini-keg from which to pour your own pints. There is a 20% discount for NHS workers.
St Andrews Brewing Company, Tayside and Fife
This company, which brewed its first beer in 2012, prides itself on sourcing its ingredients locally. Although its pubs in Dundee and St Andrews are closed, the brewery is working and offering a variety of craft beers and gins for free delivery in the DD1-DD6 and KY16 postcodes with the code FREE LOCAL.
Black Isle Brewing Company, Inverness and Highlands
Advertising itself as Scotland’s only organic brewery, Black Isle Brewing Co grows its own malting barley for its beer on an organic farm in the Black Isle. A range of the brewery’s core products – canned craft beers including gluten-free – are now available through Flavourly.com, with the option to order a mixed case to try them all.
Cullach Brewing, Perth
This small-batch beer producer is offering home delivery on a number of beverages including IPA, pale ale, stout and porter. Most of their business is currently being done through their Facebook page, Cullach Brewing.
Coul Brewing, Fife
Based in Glenrothes, this family-owned microbrewery was opened in 2017 by self-taught brothers Andrew and Martin Dean, who have over two decades of home-brewing experience. The converted a home garage into a fully-functioning brewery and are now offering online delivery of their beers.
Windswept Brewing, Moray
Set up by former RAF pilots Al Read and Nigel Tiddy, Windswept Brewing opened in Lossiemouth in 2012 and has won a number of awards for their cloudy wheat beer and dark Scotch ale. The brewery is now offering free delivery for AB38 postcodes – in the Aberlour, Rothes and Craigellachie area.
Redcastle Brewery, Angus
Located in Carmyllie, Redcastle offers a range of ales and lagers and makes home deliveries every day. Delivery is free on orders over £30 in the local area and the company is also running competitions for customers in Dundee, Angus and Fife to win cases of beer.
MòR Beers, Tayside and Fife
This Kellas brewery started out as a hobby for a retired RNLI coxswain and has now developed into a fully-fledged business, with a new online delivery service set up since lockdown started. You can pay by card, bank transfer on cash on delivery, with delivery available in Dundee, Angus, Perth and Kinross and Fife.
